The human body is made with high levels of immunity. There is soldier blood components that act to eradicate any kind of new infections that crops up in the body. These soldiers are known as white blood cells. Many diseases try to jeopardize the essential duty of the white blood cells. This document through the view of various authors intends to consider in-depth an infectious disease that causes the vulnerability of the human internal system. The paper will first look at the authorâs details to ensure there is no room for bias information. This article is from a local magazine publication, which purposes to educate the young people in society about health issues.
The author we shall lay focus on is Paul H. Douglas. He was an AIDS researcher who died at the age of thirty-seven. He worked at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and resided in Manhattan. He was He died of AIDS. He graduated from Harvard University in the year 1981. Later he advanced to get two master’s degrees in the field of computer science in the years 1984 and 1985 from Columbia. While at Columbia he and Laura Pinsky founded the Gay Health Advocacy Project. According to New York Times (1995), the two wrote a pocket book with facts about AIDS in the year 1987. Five years later he was appointed as the associate for research at the AIDS clinical trials unit at the University of Cornell. These facts address the query of the author having the valid experience to make writings regarding the Disease, it is clear that he had first-hand experiences.
AIDS is the acronym for Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome while HIV is for Human immunodeficiency virus. The latter occurs prior to AIDS. According to Harding (199,6), AIDS leaves the human body prone to diseases that are usually ordinary and even cancerous attacks also. The virus behind the pandemic destroys and tampers with the immune system. There is no particular disease that can be described as AIDS because it houses many varied symptoms of other diseases. In the United States of America for example Pneumonia is the major killer among AIDS victims. According to Fowler (1997), there are many ways of acquiring the disease namely: sexual intercourse, contact with a contaminated cutting object, blood transfusion, from mother to baby during pregnancy, and through the exchange of fluids in the event of an open wound.
The pandemic is more or less a global catastrophe. There are many cases of people dying daily of the pandemic and leaving millions of children orphaned. Hardingâs pocketbook is a protective guideline to help one prevent the rapid spread of the disease to buy time while the researchers and scientists come up with a cure. AIDS is more of a behavioral ailment since the main form of spread is through âexchange or transfer of infected sexual fluidâ (Chaitow 1994). The sexual behavior and measures that a participant takes to protect themselves are important to prevent further spread. Another AIDS researcher: Flynn (1995) brings forth the following facts of AIDS spread and trends in the United States of America. According to him every nine and a half minutes in America there is a new HIV victim. There were also close to 56,300 new HIV victims of infected people in the year 2006. The new infections have for long remained on the same curve on the graph despite the many attempts and efforts to prevent the disease. He also points out through his research that the number of those who succumb to AIDS has reduced yet the HIV virus is still a major menace in the states.
The research also reveals that there are many HIV infected people in America who do not even have an idea that they are infected. They rate in the twenty percentile. The result of this is that they may end up infecting other people without their knowledge while at the same time risk their own health stability. Fowler (1997) States that this increases the rate at which he infection spreads. Early diagnosis helps to keep the pandemic manageable. In America the pandemic has taken a discriminative approach with more African-Americans being affected. The African-American woman is 15 times more infected with AIDS than the average white American woman is. The young society also has high rates of infection due to their high sexual activity with similar sex mates also known as homosexuality or with the highly infected African-American women.
There are various ways of treating and preventing the AIDS pandemic. The prevention measures include in the event of sexual intercourse, abstinence: that is refraining from sexual activities. The second sexual preventative measure is to remain faithful to one partner in terms of sexual intercourse. The third is to use a condom in the event that one has more than one sexual partner. An infected pregnant woman should bring forth a child in a hospital preferably to ensure that there is safe and reputable care of the delivery to avoid mixing of her fluids with those of her child. Shared shaving or cutting machines or objects should be sterilized. The need for sexual education is extreme. There are so many people who do not know there is AIDS and suffer the effects. The treatment methods are mostly dependent on the medicinal approach. The researchers point out that although the patient will receive medicinal treatment, his or her lifestyle is the key determinant in the overall health of the individual. According to Fowler (1997), the patients are put on the Antirotivitral known as the ARV and a diet plan to ensure a boost in immunity is recommended. The patient is counseled and at times even with his or her spouse to ensure they get the most efficient health care from the home environment.
The author looks as AIDS from a global perspective. He sees the extent of the damage of the disease as fatal. He, through his research, educates society on the facts about AIDS, the care to be accorded to those with the disease, and the various treatments that the medical fraternity has to offer the AIDS victims. Education and more scientific investments into the fight of the disease according to him are needed. He looks at the extent of damage in the developing countries where there is little or no access to medical care and education. The death rates are high in these countries. The formation of non-governmental organization popularly known as NGOs help to cater to the education of society. They help the government to reach to the isolated in society. They mostly get funding from the world societies organization such as the World Health Organization. They use the funds to provide subsidized medicine or to jump-start projects that educate and upgrade the economic status of the citizens. Once their financial status is improved, they can then afford to purchase the required medicine.
In conclusion, AIDS is a major killer infectious disease in the world as stated by Fowler (1997). There have been many attempts of scientific nature to make its cure. The disease is spread through mostly the behavioral traits of an individual. The author is a major researcher who has a lot of exposure to the knowledge of the disease. He has a personal interest since he is an AIDS victim also. He spends most of his life trying to educate the human race on the facts of AIDS. He publishes a pocket handbook that has the facts regarding the disease. Other researchers are interested in the fight against the disease. They conducted researches in the US revealing the high rates of infections among the citizens. The researchers reveal that most people in America do not know their AIDS status and engage in sexual behavior despite the high risk of infection. The most affected groups are the African-Americans, the young people, and even the people who engage in same-sex behavior. He views sexual education as a key factor in the fight against the disease. The disease is manageable with the use of drugs and a healthy lifestyle. Counseling is necessary to ensure the victim does not undergo a state of depression. The developed countries should help the less developed to curb the spread of the disease. Human life is sacred and ought to be conserved at all points.
References
Chaitow, Leon. 1994. You Don’t Have to Die: Unraveling the AIDS Myth. Puyallup, WA: Future Medicine Pub.
Draimin, Barbara Hermie. 1995. Working Together Against AIDS. NY: Rosen Publishing Group.
Flynn, Tom. 1995. AIDS: Examining the Crises. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Co.,
Fowler, Bev.1997.Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About AIDS, but Were Afraid to Ask. Basking Ridge, NJ: J&M Publishing
Harding, P. Douglas. 1996. The Essential AIDS Fact Book. NY: Pocket Book.
The New York Times.1995.Obituaries. Web.